There is plenty of mystery surrounding Spider-Man: Brand New Day. After years of sitting on the sidelines, Peter Parker is ready to get back into the action, and he has his work cut out for him. Two Marvel Cinematic Universe heavyweights, the Punisher and the Hulk, will join Spider-Man during his next solo movie, and while their places in the story are anyone’s guess, there’s no doubt that, when the credits roll, all the heroes will be on the same side. Of course, that means there will be dark forces working behind the scenes to drive a wedge between them, but the powers that be have yet to reveal Brand New Day‘s main villain.
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While the Scorpion will return after nearly a decade away from the franchise, he doesn’t scream Big Bad. No, it’s more likely that the identity of the character that will force the Hulk to embrace his savage roots is being kept under wraps in an effort to save at least one surprise for when the movie arrives in theaters. At least there’s one bad guy that can be ruled out, as he won’t have a chance to face off against the Wall-Crawler until Spider-Man 5 at the earliest.
Kingpin Is Sitting Out Another Spider-Man Movie
Despite being primarily a Daredevil villain, Kingpin has a long history with Spider-Man in the comics. After all, the villain calls New York City home, and anyone who does shady business in one of the boroughs is going to get on Peter’s radar. Their rivalry gets so bad that Wilson Fisk hires a sniper to injure Aunt May, which leads to the “One More Day” storyline, where Spider-Man makes a deal with Mephisto. There’s speculation that Brand New Day could borrow from that comic because The Lord of Evil recently made his MCU debut in Ironheart, but even if it does, it will eliminate Kingpin’s role in the story. Actor Vincent D’Onofrio has made it clear that he’s not going to appear in the next Spider-Man movie, citing rights issues as one of the roadblocks stopping his character from making the jump to the big screen.
At the moment, keeping Kingpin away from Spider-Man isn’t the biggest issue, as both characters have a lot on their plates. While Peter will be facing off against a former Avenger soon, Fisk is hard at work as the mayor of NYC, cracking down on vigilantes and picking a fight with his old nemesis, Matt Murdock. Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is going to pick up shortly after the events of the first season, with the titular hero raising an army to strike back. While it would’ve been great to see Spider-Man among Daredevil’s ranks, the show is keeping things low-key, bringing back Jessica Jones from the Netflix continuity. However, just because Kingpin and Spider-Man are missing each other again doesn’t mean the MCU should wash its hands of the idea of them fighting completely.
The MCU Needs to Get Better About Bringing New York City-Based Characters Together
One of the biggest issues to emerge from the MCU’s Phase 5 is the lack of connectivity. In the franchise’s early years, a pen couldn’t drop in one hero’s movie without another hero hearing about it. Those days are long gone, but it feels like Marvel Studios is choosing not to address massive bombshells in order to protect its audience from potential confusion. Well, this new practice is hurting the bottom line because there’s no reason that Thunderbolts* shouldn’t have addressed Fisk being mayor in NYC when the third act of the movie takes place there. Born Again makes it clear that the streets of the city are no longer safe, but pedestrians are walking around as Yelena Belova and Co. fight like it’s any other day.
To fix the issue, the MCU can finally bring Kingpin into a Spider-Man movie. While he doesn’t have to be the main villain, the movie should be aware of him and his actions, especially since he’s not going to be a fan of the way the titular hero takes matters into his own hands. Taking this route would also allow for Spider-Man and Daredevil to finally team up on the big screen, as the world has been waiting since Matt acted as Peter’s lawyer in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day hits theaters on July 31, 2026.
Are you upset that Kingpin won’t appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day? Would you like to see the villain in a future Spider-Man movie? Let us know in the comments below!
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